Stress...I can haz it, unfortunately. Long story made short, DH had his work contract most unceremoniously cancelled. And I was already not working....so there you have the source of my stress! Thanks to Australia's pretty good welfare system, we'll squeak through with just a bit of help from our wonderful family until we are cash-flow positive again ;)

We are obviously trying to keep this from stressing the kids, while not lying to them about WHY dad is home. And amazingly enough, we are both remaining optimistic! I'm a firm believer that when life closes a door in your face... there is another one open somewhere up the hall... we've just got to find it!

Last week, having DH home (in addition to the usual distraction of my teenager) we discovered how HARD it is to get schoolwork done. Our home has one big main living area with the kitchen, dining area and lounge all combined. This is where we *usually* do our schoolwork... but that was pretty hard to get ANYTHING done with DH on the phone 'discussing' the situation with is boss (yeah, discussing is code for cussing him out lol) and on the computer job hunting. So we had a few days off with regards to formal schoolwork.. we watched a lot of the Olympics, read a couple of books about the games (one about the Ancient games, one about the Modern ones) and Frodo started reading The Adventures of Odysseus & The Tales of Troy (a childrens' adaptation of Homers Epics). He did a ton of cooking with me (we made banana bread, and zucchini fritters... which he did on his own.. and he helped dad make apple crumble for dessert, YUM!) But actual paperwork? Not much of that!

Then I had a moment on Wednesday...we NEED a space where we can work without too much distraction when there are other people at home. Enter.. the garage! DH & I spent an hour or so (really, it only took a couple of hours tops!) clearing the garage out. We had so much crap in there that needed to go to the tip that it wasn't funny. We have a van that was in there, waiting to be repaired & sold, which is now living on the driveway... I'd rather the neighbors have a slight eyesore (it's not on blocks or anything lol, just doesn't run) sitting out there than have it taking up prime real estate inside!

After we got it all cleared out, we hung a curtain rod on the ceiling an put up curtains we already had as a room divider (mainly because Frodo can't NOT get distracted by visual clutter, and the shelves holding the usual garage type stuff are still out there). We put down a big area rug we had stored and went scrounging through the house for items we could use out there. We already had a dining table that was not in use, as well as a small drawing desk... so we're set for table space! Dad crafted us up a little book shelf to help with storing our books and other bits. And lastly I put up some cool educational posters on the walls (and have x-rays to put up yet, we start our human body unit this week!) We really need a decent floor lamp because it's not as light as I'd like in there, but we can easily just open the roller door half way if needed. (No, it isn't overly odd to see people out in their garages like that... our neighbors have actually turned theirs into a kick ass play room.. complete with lino & carpet tile flooring)

Looking from the exterior garage door inward. Door in upper left is to the interior hallway. Behind the tan curtains on the right is all the typical garage storage being out of sight :D

The roller door IS 3/4 of the way up in these pics... otherwise it feels like a cave. Guess we'll have to keep that up as much as possible, and the interior door closed (much to the displeasure of two explorer wanna be kitties)

It doesn't look like much yet, but it's still a work in progress! Once we have the funds, I'm after some of the awesome (and cheap apparently) carpet tiles our friends got for theirs and I'd like to get a more sturdy shelving setup... those wobble shockingly lol. Maybe a 2nd hand Expedit unit ..or two ;)

Here is the promised finished product of my 'name' project for our Through the Lens course. I water coloured the background turquoise (my fave colour other than black) and I love to be outdoors, so I put a happy little tree in there (how I miss Bob Ross!) We also journaled a little about our names .. how we got them, were we named after anyone?, the origins & meaning of our names, and what we like about them. It was quite fun, and I think even after the course is done, I'll try to keep doing an activity once or twice a month with Frodo because we both are enjoying it! The 2nd weeks' project is on hands which should be good fun :) We got started on those pics today.

Great start to your new space! We are looking for some cheap and durable carpet squares also. Best quote so far is $30sqm...I want cheaper though. Let me know how you go. Best of luck with the job hunting :)

We have only one child, and at the moment we have enough space to work in the mai area of the house, but with our move ina couple fo years we will almost certainly be dealing with far less space. I am definitely keeping this idea in mind! :)

(Love your blog, BTW, Caz. I've been dropping by for quite a while, but just now thought to thank you for the work you put into it.)

Yep, actually we are. We visited Geelong and Adelaide, and we'll be moving back when I retire in a couple of years so Jack can really be an Aussie boy, as he's told everyone he is since he could talk. ;)

Welcome & About Me!

I'm Caz and This is my blog. I've been on somewhat of a hiatus with my children in school, but now Frodo (10) is returning to home education so I'll be back! Frodo has ADHD (although not sure I'm 100% behind that), Sensory Integration Disorder, and so many Asperger's traits that I wonder if he isn't misdiagnosed! We discovered the hard way that he does NOT fit the school mould, needless to say.

Who IS Caz? Well, I'm a 40 year old (although I like the idea of 30 with 10yrs experience better!) mum of 5 boys living in Eastern Australia. I cook, I clean *ugh* (too damn much!), I'm a part time worker in the disability field, I am your not so typical soccer mom basically, and I occasionally find time to sneak in some crafting :)